By Albert Amateau
The Board of Standards and Appeals last week approved a variance to allow a Meatpacking District landlord to build a new 10-story office tower with retail next to the High Line that doubles the size allowed on the site under existing development rules.
The Nov. 24 decision will allow Romanoff Equities, which has a 60-year presence in the Meat Market, to replace the existing two-story vacant art deco meatpacking plant that dates from the 1930s at 437 W. 13th St. at the corner of Washington St.
The proposed glass-clad project, to be known now as 860 Washington St., is located between the new Standard Hotel, which straddles the elevated High Line park to the south, and the Diane von Furstenberg Studio Headquarters to the north. Merchants hailed the project as a boon to the neighborhood that has morphed from a gritty wholesale meat market to a high-end retail fashion and nightlife district.
The variance approved by the B.S.A. last week also allows Romanoff to include a total of 20,000 square feet of retail space on two floors of the new building — double the area of retail space allowed under current zoning.
But preservation advocates, whose opposition over the past year forced the developer to reduce the height and bulk of the proposed building and the area of the retail space, think the project is still too big for the site that was excluded from the Gansevoort Historic District six years ago.
“We continue to oppose any variance for bulk or additional retail space,” said Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, adding, “We believe the B.S.A. ignored its own rules and common sense in awarding these variances.”
Berman acknowledged, however, that the B.S.A. decision gave the project clear sailing. The only remaining recourse for opponents would be a lawsuit challenging the decision, and apparently none was being contemplated. Berman noted that G.V.S.H.P. policy barred going to court.
Romanoff sought the variances on the grounds that the High Line runs over the site’s western portion, which they claimed would create a hardship and prevent a project built to existing zoning rules from earning a fair return on its investment. Opponents, however, said that for other developers, proximity to the High Line proved to be an economic advantage.
At the end of 2008, Darryl Romanoff, a principal in the company, told community representatives that he would seek a variance to allow a 250-foot-tall tower that cantilevered over the High Line — 67 percent larger than existing zoning allowed — and 30,000 square feet of retail space, or three times more than allowed in existing zoning.
In January 2009, Romanoff presented Community Board 2 with a scaled-down version, 215 feet tall (still 55 percent larger than allowed by existing zoning) without the cantilever but still with 30,000 square feet of retail space. The C.B. 2 Zoning Committee recommended that the project be reduced to no more than 27 percent over allowable bulk but still with 30,000 square feet of retail space.
Preservation advocates pressured the full C.B. 2 board to oppose the variance for building size, but the board did not completely oppose some retail variance.
Romanoff decreased the building’s size last summer to a 201-foot-tall tower, and in the fall presented the variance request for a 175-foot-tall tower with 20,000 square feet of retail space that B.S.A. approved last week.
“We appreciate B.S.A.’s thoughtful consideration of our application and look forward to continuing the evolution of the Meatpacking District,” Romanoff said in a prepared statement last week. “Our family has been a proud member of the Meatpacking District for more than 60 years and 860 Washington St. will carry on that tradition.”
Von Furstenberg hailed the project as a commitment “to preserve the neighborhood as a destination for high-end fashion and commerce.”
James Carpenter of James Carpenter Design Associates, along with Randy Gerner of Gerner, Kronick + Valcarcel, designed the project. Carpenter’s work includes 7 World Trade Center, the facade of Jazz at Lincoln Center and the cast-glass water feature of the Hearst Tower at 57th St. and Eighth Ave.
The project’s 10 stories will include 116,000 square feet total of high-ceilinged space, while the first two floors will offer retail spaces ranging in size from 11,500 to 13,200 square feet; part of the retail space will be under the High Line and will include a skylight at the High Line level, according to the developer.
